Saved
by HPNDOPDW00
Summary: Lynette Cole was a girl many cherished; whether she was their daughter or friend, she had this personality that people adored. That personality is long gone. Andrew Carter, who sees this in Lynette, has made it his mission to save her. Posted on another website
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Her grip tightened on the railing behind her and her thin body pressed against it. Wind blew in her face, causing lines of tears to shiver against her already cold cheeks.

This was finally going to happen. The sorrow, the confusion, the anxiety, the remorse and the anger would finally perish. At this thought, a small smile sprouted on her face.

However, her foot, which was balancing on a rather small piece of wood, slipped and caused her heart to jump into her throat. She immediately regained her balance, and she gripped the railing tighter out of anger, frustration and annoyance.

Why would she regain her balance if she wanted her life to end? She didn't know the number of people that abandoned her. She couldn't count the amount of times that disappointment found her whenever something she wanted to happen didn't. She couldn't begin to explain all the terrible things she had done in her fifteen year life. She was disgusted by her grades but she couldn't get the help she needed to improve them because she decided long ago she didn't want to get involved with people. She was done with the emotions that come with life so why would she prevent her death?

She stood there, still angry at herself, but that anger quickly extinguished when she heard the sound of someone entering her sanctuary, the Astronomy Tower. After hearing them mutter, she was able to identify them as male.

Not only was her refuge from the cruel world intruded, but it was intruded when she was in the middle of something she didn't want to be interrupted.

But she was paralyzed and all she could do was pray for him not to see her and continue his life without knowing she ever existed. That was her wish, but her wishes never did come true.

She stood on the tiny wood platform, unable to breath, her heart pounding, and her sweaty hands gripping on to the railing with every step coming closer to her that she heard.

The steps finally stopped and an arm wrapped around her waist. He tried to lift her and bring her into the Astronomy Tower, but her grip was too strong.

"Let go!" he shouted.

She didn't want to listen to him, but, as much as she hated to admit it, males do tend to be physically stronger than females. Because of this fact, after some difficulty, he was finally able to get her to let it go, but, he lost his balance and thus, Lynette landed on top of him.

Quickly perceiving the situation she was in, she freed her from his loosened grip and stood there, not knowing what to do.

All she wanted to do was flee. But not only was she taught manners- she didn't want to face the world. So, she stood there to find something to say to the teenager.

She should have been angry- he just stopped her from doing the only thing that could make her pain perish. But she wasn't, or, at least, not angry enough to take that anger out on another person. That would mean she would have to _show _her emotions to others and that was something she promised to never do.

Besides that she acknowledged that her Delayer delayed her suicide because life shouldn't end by a quickened death. She acknowledged it but that didn't mean she agreed with it.

So she stood there, looking at her Delayer, who towered over her by a head. He possessed auburn hair that covered his forehead but stopped just above his eyebrows. Because of his hair and the distance between them, she couldn't see the colour of his eyes, but was able to make out that they were of a light colour. She could faintly see freckles that covered basically his whole face.

For a moment, she just stared at him, silently pleading for him to leave so that she could end everything. But how could she say that in a manner that wouldn`t sound rude?

He broke the silence between them by saying, "I'm Andrew Carter, you?"

The introduction annoyed Lynette so much that it made her have a desire to punch him. She had just attempted suicide and he introduced himself. He was acting so calm, like he didn`t just delay someone`s death.

However this annoyance made her say something she could never regret. "Lynette Cole. Now, if you excuse me, I have some things I should do." Upon saying this, she turned on her heel and headed for the exit of the Astronomy Tower, but was interrupted by Andrew when he asked,

"Where are you going?"

"To my common room" she replied, not stopping but looking over her shoulder.

She didn't want to answer the question, but she would be able to leave quicker so she did answer.

"What house are you in?" he asked.

She stopped and exhaled a deep breath before answering, "Hufflepuff."

"I'm heading to the kitchen, so I might as well go with you." He relied, reaching for his rucksack.

Just because Lynette made no protest did not mean she was impressed.

"What year are you in?" He asked when they were going down the stairs that guided people to and from the Astronomy Tower.

"Fifth" she answered, looking down to the stone steps.

"Me too."

After a moment of silence that Lynette did not want to decease, Andrew asked, "What kind of music do you listen to?"

The thing about music is that it says the things you want to hear or want to say, so, the music you listen to may reveal things about you. Lynette feared people knowing the pain she had been through. That`s why she remained silent for this question.

"Ever hear of The Beatles?" he asked.

The Beatles would forever play a part in her youth. She would spend hours in her room, with her treasured sketchbook, and listen to them. She even had a picture of a Yellow Submarine in her sketchbook. Because of her fond memories of them, she couldn`t deny she that wasn't a fan of their music. So she responded with, "I've heard of them."

"Brilliant."

Their journey to the Hufflepuff common room was filled with failed attempts of conversations with Lynette by Andrew. She didn`t appreciate them.

Lynette feared friendship because she feared that everything she held dear would come crashing down, once again.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Andrew Carter wasn't going to go to the kitchen after he separated from Lynette at the stack of barrels that guarded the Hufflepuff common room. He was going to tell someone about the scene he had just witnessed.

He knew Lynette wouldn't be impressed, but he couldn't keep it a secret. He had to tell someone, and since she was in Hufflepuff, he was heading to the green houses.

On his way, his mind drifted to someone very dear to him, or who was.

This person is the reason why he was going to befriend Lynette Cole, no matter how many times she was going to push him away. If he didn't, he would be breaking a promise he made to himself.

The reason why he was at the tower at the moment Lynette was going to fall to her death. Andrew had a first year little brother by the name of Alec.

Alec had always been well behaved. Growing up trying to get much needed attention from a father does that to a child. Alec would try so hard to get some attention from Mr. Carter, becoming the best in his class, becoming one of the best football players on his team, even surpassing his older brother of five years in both school and the sport. Sadly, his effort got ignored by the very same person he was trying to impress.

Andrew, knowing what his brother had went through, chose not to say a word about his new plan to get Mr. Carter's attention; pranking. His most recent one was hiding his elder brother's rucksack on the Astronomy tower.

On Andrew's way to his task, his eyes landed upon the familiar face of Hannah Abbot.

Hannah and Andrew had dated the previous year. After going to the Yule Ball together, they figured dating was the next step to take, but later they decided to break-up. They were friends before the Ball and didn't want that to end, so they remained friends. But breaking up doesn't extinguish the feelings of desire.

"Do you have a minute?" He asked the blonde.

"Sure, what do you need?" She asked, abandoning a fellow Hufflepuff by the name of Ernie Macmillian.

"Is there a girl in your dorm by the name of Lynette Cole?" He asked once they were in private.

Her face fell and she responded with, "it doesn't ring a bell"

"Are you sure? She's pretty quiet; you might not even notice her."

"There is this one girl. I don't know her name. She only comes in the dorm for sleep or to get something for lessons. I don't know anything about her. Sorry."

"It's fine. By the way, do you think you could tutor me in Herbology and History of Magic?"

"Andrew, you're my friend, and I'll try to help you with anything you have trouble with, but you don't pay attention in those classes, especially History. Besides, I have my own work to worry about. Sorry." She said with regret.

"It's fine. Thanks anyway." He said and continued on with his journey.

He appeared at the History of Magic class room. He entered only to find the only ghost teacher in Hogwarts asleep at his front desk with his head on his left shoulder, which wasn`t surprising.

"Professor Binns?" Andrew called, trying to get the ghost to wake up.

After several attempts he finally did, though he wasn't fully awake.

"What do you want, Mr. Connel?" he said grumpily and tiredly.

"I'm just wondering if Lynette Cole is any good at this subject. I'm thinking about asking her to be my tutor." He answered, sitting on one of the desks.

"She's one of my best students," he replied before going back to sleep.

Andrew left the classroom to go to the green houses.

When he arrived, he forced himself to look for Professor Sprout.

It wasn't that he was afraid of her- she was a very kind, cheerful woman, and she was probably one of his favourite teachers. But, Andrew was in a very important year academically, and if he were to fail Herbology- which it looked like he was going to- he wouldn't be able to have N.E. for it, which meant he wouldn't be able to become an Auror.

"Good morning Mr. Carter. How are you today?" She greeted her student while planting a plant.

"Morning professor. I'm fine thank you. How are you?" He greeted back.

"I'm great. Thank you for asking! Have you come for private lessons?" she asked.

"Ah, no- I've came to talk to you about Lynette Cole. She would have jumped off the Astronomy tower if I wasn't there to save her. She's fine now, and I walked her back to her common room. You're her head of house, so I thought I'd tell you" He replied.

Her cheerful face became a horrid one. "Thank you for telling me. I'll tell Dumbledore right away and talk to her"

"Um, is she by any chance good at Herbology? Would she make a good tutor?"

"She's excellent in this class, but I wouldn't recommend you asking her to tutor you, given to the news you just gave me." She answered.

"I'll keep that in mind, Professor. Thank you very much." He gave her a sly grin and left the green house.


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

After hearing a request from a student that surprisingly knew her name, Lynette was heading to the green houses to meet her head of house, Pomona Sprout- also known as the Herbology teacher.

At first, judging from the many compliments she had received during her lessons with her, she thought it would be something about extra-credit, but then she remembered that there was probably a lot of students that were better than her. So she has no idea as to what Professor Sprout wanted.

When she arrived, she noticed that her Professor wasn't herself.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" She asked the usually cheery woman.

"Yes, Miss Cole, another student has informed me that you have attempted suicide not too long ago. This is a very serious situation that will not be taken lightly. If you have anything you would like to talk about, you can always come to me, one of the other staff members, or even someone close to you." She started.

This was what she wanted; to lecture her? She had always been her favourite teacher, her cheerfulness had always sent warmness to her heart. But it turned out she was just like the rest who suggested to someone who was broken, numb, and dead inside, to do probably one of their worst fears: confide.

"I know, professor. I regret my selfish decision. I don't know what could have brought me do it. I'm really sorry." She said as if she rehearsed it.

She honestly couldn't believe she said that out loud. Ever since she could remember, she thought of others, not herself. You are constantly told that you should do things for yourself, and, in a way, that was what she was doing. And she knew perfectly well what caused her to attempt it.

"The Headmaster wants to see you, so come with me." The teacher whipped her hands on her apron and guided the teenager to his office.

During the journey, her mind drifted to who must have told her head of house- Andrew Carter. She couldn't think of anyone else who would. Besides, the Astronomy Tower was only used for Astronomy, so it was quite vacant during the day.

She could understand why he would tell Professor Sprout- he was worried about her. Still, his worries were not necessary. She had spent years with the sorrow she bore, and she could spend more. She didn't need any help, nor did she want any; she was fine.

When they reached the unpleasant looking gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's tower, Professor Sprout gave the password-Sherbert Lemon. Why that was the password was beyond Lynette, though, she assumed he enjoyed them, if he chose it as his un-wise password.

"Again, if you need to talk anyone, you can come to me, go to one of the other staff members, or someone you trust" she told Lynette once again before leaving.

When she entered her Headmaster's office, the feeling of amazement quickly entered her.

She hadn't been in that much of Professor's offices, and the ones she had been in hadn't amazed her as much as the Headmaster's.

It was large and circler shaped. Funny noises came from all over the room, and silver objects with small puffs of smoke coming out them lay upon spindle-legged tables. The walls were covered with portraits of former Headmasters and Headmistresses sleeping soundly.

It was quite easy to impress Lynette with magic, as she was, after all, Muggle-born.

"Good afternoon, Miss Cole" a voice took her away from her admiration.

She turned around to see her Headmaster; Albus Dumbledore who was a tall, thin man with a long crooked nose that looked to have been broken a few times and long skillful fingers. His blue eyes often had both kindness and mischief, but were hidden by his half-moon spectacles. He had silvery hair and a beard that could be tucked into his belt.

Albus had always interested Lynette, since the moment she had first lay eyes on him at the welcoming feast of her first year.

"Good afternoon Professor. You wanted to see me?" She asked, not looking forward to her upcoming lecture.

"I just wanted to know how fifth year is treating you," he answered. "Well, I hope," he added.

Lynette saw straight through his act. He was trying to get some sort of a reason as to why she would attempt suicide. Considering the year she was in, stress could be the blame, it had a part in it, but it wasn't.

"I'm just fine Professor, is that all you wanted?" she replied.

"That is all. I would also like to tell that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it. You may go now." And with that, she left.

This was exactly why he interested her so much- how he asked to see her, but hardly said anything. His desire to see her also showed kindness, for he probably has tons more important things to attend to. After all, other students had their own issues, Professor Umbridge was refusing to teach her students defensive spells, and Voldemort had returned only a few months prior.


	4. Chapter Four

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"strongspan style="text-decoration: underline;"Chapter Four/span/strong/p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"Lynette entered the classroom of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Usually, she was the first to arrive, but today, she was beaten by an auburn haired student.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""Hello. Lynette. You can sit here if you want." He greeted her, referring to the seat beside him.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"She didn't want it- she wanted to be left alone. Still, she was raised with manners, and she couldn't possibly decline anyone unless she was annoyed, so she accepted it.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""How are you today?" he asked when she sat beside him.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""I'm well. Thank you for asking. How are you today?" she tried to stop the bitterness she felt inside from being shown in her voice.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""I'm good."p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"She pulled out her book for the class hoping he would leave her alone, which he didn't.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;" "Hey, would you like to tutor me Herbology and History of Magic?" he asked.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes and Astronomy were Lynette's best subjects. The others she couldn't understand.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"Herbology and Potions were simple; all she had to do was to follow instructions, with a bit of research. Care of Magical Creatures involved animals, which Lynette adored, even though the animals were dangerous. Astronomy made her feel comfortable as the classroom was the astronomy tower. History of Magic and Ancient Runes would forever hold a special place in her heart, for the thought of history brought a smile on her face.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""I'm sorry, but I'm not that good with lessons. I don't think I would be the right person to tutor you" she answered, not taking her eyes off her book.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""I doubt that statement. I've heard the praises you get from Sprout, and you're one of the few that don't fall asleep during Binns's lectures" he stated.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"This was the kind of thing that could get Lynette to do whatever was wanted of her, but she feared that whoever said such things was lying and didn't mean it. It happened before, so it could happen again.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""Like I said, I don't think I'm the kind of person that you want to be your tutor" she repeated, turning her head to look at Andrew.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;""I honestly don't care about If you don't think you can do it or not. I'm close to failing these subjects, and if I don't pass them, I won't be able to become an Auror, which is the only wizarding job I'm interested in." He practically begged.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;"Lynette felt some sympathy for him. She knew what it was like to worry that you're not going to be able to do your dream job just because you couldn't pass some subjects. She was going through the same thing with her dream to be a Healer. But she concluded that he didn't want her help-who would?p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;"She was getting a little irritated repeating to him that she did not want to be his tutor, so she remained silent.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;"Andrew had made no attempt to talk to her after that, but he wasn't giving up.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;"Lynette took her time to leave the classroom, giving Andrew time to get a reasonable distance away from the classroom so they wouldn't have a meeting that seemed to be a coincidence. Her effort became a waste when she found out that he had been waiting for her to leave the classroom; which she wasn't amused by.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;" "Do have you any lessons you have trouble with? I'm at least passing most of them." He said once they were in a vacant corridor.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;"She had trouble with a lot of them, but she couldn't ask him to tutor her in all of them- it would be too much for him.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;""I don't have trouble with any lessons." She lied.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;""Oh come on! Everyone has a subject they're bad at- even Hermione Granger who's the best in the year has one" he disagreed.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;""I don't want your help!" she exploded. This was probably the most she expressed in years.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;""'Want' and 'Need' are two different things" he defended himself.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;"Lynette hadn't known him for even a week, and he was already getting on her nerves.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;""Fine, I'll help you." She agreed only out of annoyance.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;""Good. I look forward to working with you. How about at the Library after lessons?" he asked.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; tab-stops: 370.9pt;"She nodded and left Andrew alone in the corridor.p 


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

It was the last lesson of the day. Lynette hoped that Andrew wasn't in it. If he wasn't, she could go her sanctuary, the Astronomy Tower, or maybe the Black Lake- anywhere but the library.

But he was in that lesson. She would still be able to flee the session if she blended in the crowd and went somewhere he wouldn't find her. Maybe that would work if he didn't choose to sit beside her. From pass experiences with the auburn haired teenager, she knew he was going to repeat his history, and he did.

As she made her way towards what she was currently calling hell, a familiar feeling of dread invaded her. She felt that if she went somewhere that was meant to be peaceful, something awful would happen. She wondered if Andrew saw this in her because he tried to distract her from the dread.

"What lessons do you have trouble with?" he asked in a tone that seemed like it was trying to start conversation.

She had trouble in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and, although this was partly influenced by Professor Umbridge, she had trouble with the subject since the first year. At first she thought that Professor McGonagall's strictness made her too nervous to succeed in Transfiguration, but, considering how she did well in potions despite the even crosser Professor Snape, she concluded this couldn't be the case. As for Charms, after realizing the above, and remembering some incidents in her younger years, she concluded that she has trouble voicing the spells. Unfortunately this wasn't an excuse for her worst subject, Arithmancy, which she only took because Math was probably her best subject when she was in Primary school. She was glad that she was good at more subjects than she was bad, but these subjects were pretty important for her dream job, a Healer.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms and Arithmancy" She listed.

"What classes are you good at?" he asked, taking note of her struggles.

"Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, History of Magic, Ancient Runes and Potions." She listed once again.

"What do you want to be when you graduate?" he asked.

"A Healer, why?" she replied.

"I am your tutor; it's my duty to know what you're aiming for and what's stopping you from getting there. You have trouble in three of the subjects needed for a Healer, but you don't need Arithmancy for it so is it okay if we skip it?" He looked at Lynette, silently asking if it was okay and she answered with a nod.

"All the subjects you have trouble in involves wand movement, and I think that's your problem." He replied.

Though, he did have the cause wrong, Lynette was impressed by his intelligence, she thought he was the absent-minded type.

She remained silent, though, she did wanted to ask him why he asked her good subjects if he wanted to know her bad ones.

"I'm impressed that you're good at Herbology and History of Magic. I've lost count how many times I've been bitten by a plant, the gloves are life saviors, and History of Magic is boring as hell."

They kept quiet during the rest of the journey to the library. When they arrived, they were greeted by a girl with green eyes and short blonde hair.

"Hello, Teagan. This is Lynette Cole, and, Lynette, this is Teagan Buckley. " He introduced the two girls.

"It's great to meet you, Lynette. I want to practise some Quidditch so I can make it on the team next year, so I can't stay and talk, but good luck with tutoring Andrew-you`ll need it. It was nice meeting you!" she said with her Irish accent and left.

Andrew turned, looked at Lynette and stated, "I think we should start with your bad subjects because you have more than me. We should probably work outside or in an empty corridor."

She wondered why he would take her to the library if they were just going to an empty corridor or outside. She decided against voicing her thoughts.

They exited the library and arrived at an empty corridor. Andrew made her sit on cold stone floor of the corridor.

"I think we start should with D.A.D.A. With Voldemort back, you'll going to need to defend yourself." He stated.

Lynette didn't know who Voldemort was. All she knew was that most feared him, judging from the gasps that arrived during the feast where Headmaster Dumbledore announced her fellow Hufflepuff, Cedric Diggory was killed by Voldemort. Though, that could be because a student had just been murdered.

"Let's start with the disarming spell, Expelliarmus. It's extremely helpful; it makes the victim of the spell helpless, rendering them easy to kill." He said this with a disturbing smile. Lynette was sure he was just joking around. He might have been a little annoying, but he had a good heart.

"Now, get out your wand and get up. You should try it." He helped her up and brought her to a spot near the edge of the corridor. "Stay here," he said, and walked away so he was a few feet away from her directly.

"Watch how I move my wand." He flicked his wand and spoke the spell clearly, causing Lynette's wand to disappear from her grip.

Once she got her wand, she tried to disarm Andrew and failed.

"Good try! Try to tighten your swish a bit." He encouraged.

After many fails, Andrew announced that they should start other lessons, and they moved on with Transfiguration.

Andrew had apparently asked his younger brother, Alec, to 'borrow' some supplies to Transfigure, which he did with the cost of two Galleons.

Lynette was more successful with Transfiguration than Defence. She wasn't perfect- Andrew's laughs proved that- but she somehow knew that she would get better over time.

She also felt the same with Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms- that she would get better over time. She sometimes despised the six year old her. She learned a long time ago that whenever it seemed like everything was alright, something terrible would happen.

After finishing Lynette's tutoring, which caused them to miss dinner, and Andrew swore that he wouldn'tbe able to concentrate with his stomach growling every five minutes, they were walking to the kitchen.

Lynette had never been there. She had no need to, for, if she got hungry after dinner, she would wait until breakfast to eat.

"You've never been there? Do you not like food or something? Who doesn't like food?" Andrew exclaimed once he heard that she had never been there.

They arrived at a painting of fruit that covered the wall from the floor to the ceiling. Lynette didn't get it- was the entrance a painting? Was it behind the painting? How would someone get in? Her questions were answered when Andrew raised his arm and tickled a pear. It laughed. It then turned into a doorknob, which he turned, revealing a glowing room with small creatures Lynette didn't know the name of working hard near pots, pan and counters.

After Andrew motioned Lynette to follow him, she entered the first room and gasped.

The room she had just entered was surprisingly spacious. Although it was a castle, she had never been in a bigger room than her common room. It had silver pots, pans, and anything else you would need for cooking. Long dark wooden tables (which she assumed were the house tables) stood side by side. Only one of the little creatures noticed the two visitors. Both History and Cooking had a special place in her heart- maybe that was why immediately took a liking to this room.

A little creature that had big tennis ball sized eyes and was wearing a pink, oversized shirt that looked like a dress on such a small body, blue shorts, mix-match socks of yellow and green, and various of hand knitted hats. She didn't pay too much attention to their conservation, but did hear;

"Good evening, Mr. Carter. Would Mr. Carter like a Butterbeer?" the small creature asked, looking up to Andrew.

"Two please, and some steak, potatoes, carrots, and corn, please. Want anything Lynette?"

Lynette was easily fascinated by things like magic, outdoors, and art. She could easily fall into a trance of just admiring something, which she just did.

After jumping out of shock, she turned to face the little creature, and asked for some Potato Soup.

"Lynette, this is Dobby the House Elf. He almost killed Harry Potter in second year." Lynette was shocked that such a cute creature could be able to almost kill someone; she couldn't bear to think about it. It turned out she believed right because the little house elf told his story.

"Dobby was only trying to protect Harry Potter!" the house elf exclaimed.

"I know Dobby. Go get us our food please." The Elf left.

"How do you know that Dobby almost killed Harry during our second year?" she asked Andrew which took a lot of courage.

"I was in the Hospital Wing at the same as Harry because of a bloody plant in Herbology. Anyways, Dobby basically confessed everything right then and there and I was awake, so I overheard everything. He started working here last year so I became friends with him."

"What are House Elves?" she was quite interested in these small creatures.

"House Elves are bound to serve one wizard family forever. Most get snobby Purebloods so most of the time, they're slaves. They get to be free if their Master gives them a piece of clothing." He answered, taking a seat in one of the long tables.

"Are these elves free?" She asked, following Andrew's action.

"I know Dobby is, thanks to Harry. Another got sacked so I wouldn't say she counts. They actually get paid by working, a Galleon a week I believe."

Their food soon arrived. Andrew had ordered a butterbeer for her, which she had never tried before due to the fact that she had never been to Hogsmeade.

She noticed that Andrew was quite talkative. She wondered if it was because he was born that way or if he just didn't enjoy silence. She could understand why he wouldn't like it- silence could, after all, be maddening.

Still, she enjoyed talking (or listening) to him. The feelings of being loved, wanted and safe were foreign to her- she only knew the feeling of being misplaced. She felt a connection with Andrew. This connection told her to talk to him more, but she quickly decided against it. She had trusted too easily, and she hated it. Everyone had a side filled with darkness. What if she trusted someone with all her heart, only to have them hurt her? She would regret it. Sometimes trusting someone was a mistake- she learned that the hard way.

Andrew had kept ordering more food .Why he did so was beyond Lynette, but she was impressed that he had expressed his desire of doing his homework. He had come up with a game where she would ask him a question regarding one of the two subjects, and, if he got one wrong, she would have to give him the correct answer, while if he got one correct, he would get no reward except a 'congratulations' for it. He didn't receive a lot of 'congratulations' from Lynette, but that didn't matter to him. What mattered more was the fact, due to his uneducated answers, he got Lynette to laugh. Hopefully his promise would soon be fulfilled.


	6. Chapter Six

**A/N! Hello! Thank you for reading my story up to here! It means a lot! I just wanted to tell you I re-wrote the first chapter, so go read it if you're interested! Thank you again and I hop you enjoy the sixth chapter!**

**Chapter Six**

After three weeks of Lynette failing and Andrew laughing, Lynette was finally able to succeed in her tutor lessons with Andrew. However, she didn't see Andrew being the cause of her success.

Sometimes, she got into a mood where she felt like fighting off her demons, or, in other words, to be independent. This desire of independence caused proudness that only came from the art work she did as a child. She hadn't felt pleased with her art for quite some time as she hadn't been able to do it since Andrew had delayed her death.

Lynette wasn't the only one who felt fulfilled when she disarmed him.

Andrew was determined to get Lynette to let go of her experiences in her youth (as he assumed, with the way she was, that she had a hard past). He knew it would take a long time, but he was willing to wait if it meant it could make up for his mistake all those years ago. He was making progress, but not enough progress in his opinion. There's a reason as to why he was sorted into Gryffindor rather than Hufflepuff- he had a low patience level.

Andrew had a habit of being late to their tutor sessions. Whenever he arrived Lynette was looking through a small, aged sketchbook or a scrapbook. When she looked through them, she had a small smile. Andrew had seen her smile before, but something was different about this one. Not only did it stay (the only other smiles he had seen on her face didn't lasted long) but it sent happiness to him. He could go on for hours watching it. When thinking about the source of the smile, he realized that it was the sketchbook and scrapbook. He wanted to see the origins of the smile. Maybe it could give him a clue about her past.

Lynette traveled with her rucksack everywhere, so he couldn't look through when she wasn't around. He also couldn't ask his younger brother, Alec, to distract her somewhere since he wouldn't do it without any money. Alec stole Andrew's money from his rucksack the day he had saved Lynette from falling to her death. So his only option was to ask someone who shared a dorm with Lynette.

"Why not? You'll get to pretend you're _Nancy Drew_!" he exclaimed after hearing Hannah's refusal.

"It isn't right to look in other peoples things," she answered, sitting down at a table the Divination room.

"Nancy does it all the time; she even stole a clock once." He exclaimed.

"Why do you want me to look in her things anyway?" she asked.

"She's my friend and I'm worried about her." It wasn't a complete lie- he was worried about her.

"Why can't you ask her about it?" she asked.

"Number One" he raised his finger. "Besides her tutoring me, she hardly talks to me. Number two" he raised his ides index finger, joining it with the finger he already had raised. "As she never talks to me, it would just be too awkward to ask her want's wrong." He explained.

"If you're worried for her, why do you need me to look in her things?" she questioned.

"Well, if your common room is anything like Gryffindor's, I won't be able to get to the girls' Dorms. You share a dorm with her, so you're the perfect option, and I have a hunch that I will find out what's wrong with her."

"Andrew, I doubt you'll find anything about her in her rucksack." She explained.

"Well, it's worth a shot, ain't it?" he asked with a smirk.

She watched as the dark haired girl entered the rounded door that lead to the girls Dormitories'. She got up from her overstuffed armchair and followed Lynette to the dormitories.

She hated that Andrew was able to talk her into this. She was trying to forget about him; Alec had told her that he had slept with a girl during summer break and he had been spending a lot of time with Lynette. She felt as if she couldn't compete with her, with her good looks. Because of this, she had given up on the hope of them getting back together. She wanted to distance herself from him, but that was impossible with Andrew. He was so determined and cunning that she believed that if he wasn't put in Gryffindor, he would be in Slytherin.

When she entered the dormitory, Lynette had her curtains covering her four-posted bed, which wasn't surprising with her history.

Hannah remembered her very first day at Hogwarts' well- the train ride (where she had met Andrew) the nervousness of being put in Slytheirn, the satisfaction of not being put in there, the terrific food, the amazement of the common room, and the chatting between her new roommates with one exception- Lynette Cole.

The Hufflepuffs that lived in the room saw a broken girl in her, so they attempted to make friends with her. They tried to talk to her, asking about her fears and excitement when they first started Hogwarts. They got nothing. Later on, they started asking about her favourite lessons, least favourite, favourite teachers, least favourite, who her fancies were, what her thoughts on the events of the school year were. She did give them answers- she despised ignoring people- she just didn't gave them ones they could respond to and if they pushed her to answer, she left the room. They finally gave up on her. If they ever encountered her, they were silent. They tended to ignore being in her presence. And she was grateful.

Because of their drift from the girl, Hannah didn't know what to do. She figured she would wait until Lynette was asleep until she looked through her things, so she started to do school work.

During her time waiting for Lynette to go to bed, she had discovered that Lynette was a bit of a night owl. Hannah had stayed up until one in the morning waiting for Lynette to fall asleep before she fell asleep herself. When she awoke, she noticed it was four, and Lynette was finally asleep.

Hannah took this opportunity to look through her things. She rose from her bed that was covered with her schoolwork and a patchwork quilt and walked toward Lynette's bed.

She did not want to disturb Lynette too much, for she did go to bed late, it was a school night, and she needed rest. Hannah quickly opened the curtains and grabbed the rucksack.

Sighing in relief because she didn't wake Lynette, Hannah whispered 'Lumos' and lifted the flap that closed the rucksack and looked through it.

The bag consisted of these items: text books, notes, ink bottles, quills, muggle stuff, an aged sketchbook, and a scrapbook. Not believing Andrew would like text books, notes or muggle stuff considering he grew up in the muggle world, she took out the sketchbook and the scrapbook.

First, she looked at the sketchbook's cover. It had various circled stains and doodles, such as rainbows, swirls, and hearts that were both whole and broken. She then opened it and saw art work of what looked to be made by a child. She flipped through and saw rainbows, stick figures holding hands and later on, landscapes. The landscapes took her breath away. The colours that were used worked beautifully with the pictures, and she was reluctant to put it down and look through the scrapbook.

When she looked at the lilac scrapbook, she noticed a picture in the middle of the cover. It had a young man in a suit with short dark hair a big smile on his face that looked as if it belonged there, and he was squatting in order to be the same height as the little girl in the middle, whom he had in his arms. In the far right, there was a young woman with long, wavy, dark brown hair that was pushed back by a hairband, and a smile that looked like it belonged there. She was squatting so she could hold the little girl in the middle. The girl in the middle looked like a miniature of the woman in the far right; she had long wavy dark brown hair that was left un-styled.

She lifted the cover and was greeted by a picture of an infant. She took a guess it wasn't long after Lynette was born. The pictures continued from there, and they told a story. It showed the infant growing up, learning to ride a bicycle, playing the piano, playing the violin, doing ballet, starting her first day of school. Not only that, but it also showed the love between the family; there wasn't that much pictures that just contained the girl. Hannah had got to where the pictures of the loving family suddenly stopped and in its place, was cat photos, she thought the cat was adorable and was sad when the pictures were replaced by recipes. She didn't had an interest in cooking so she put both the sketchbook and scrapbook in her bag so that she could give them to Andrew when she saw him. She then went to bed.

"Thank you very much, Hannah" Andrew said as he was given the scrapbook and sketchbook.

"I think I should tell this, but Lynette had a breakdown last night, so I think she might know that they're missing, she's also quite out of it, from I've seen, so be careful with her today, alright?"

"I'm always careful with her" he replied.

Ignoring the jealousy she felt, she nodded and went to the Hufflepuff table.

He put them in his rucksack and saved them for lunch.

When it came, he stuffed down his sandwich, and his younger brother, Alec had noticed this.

"Why are you eating so fast?" He asked before taking a spoon full of his soup.

Andrew turned his head to look at his brother. He and Alec were different in many ways. For starters, Alec lacked freckles and auburn hair. He instead processed brown hair which spiked up unlike Andrews which nearly covered his eyes.

Between the two, Alec may have been considered the more level headed one. Andrew tended to be happy-go-lucky in certain situations (like ones with their father), but his mental health was slowly going astray. Because of this, he sometimes took his frustrations out on someone else.

"I have something to do, and I need to do it quick," he answered.

"What do you have to do," he asked.

"That is none of your business" Andrew answered. He would rather not let his brother know about what he was doing.

"Does it have something do with that Hufflepuff girl?" He asked before taking a bite out of his piece of bread.

"How do you know about her?" He asked, almost choking on his sandwich.

"For a reason I do not understand, you're popular with the girls. Ever since I came here, they've been asking me a lot of questions about you. They asked me about that girl, and, as I don't know who she is, I'm asking."

"She's my friend and I'm worried about her. Also, don't tell those girls anything embarrassing," he told Alec.

"Too late!" he said before getting back into his soup. He felt his brother's glare on him. "What? They give me money if I tell them that kind of stuff."

"Don't you have enough money? You already stole all of mine." He went back to his sandwich.

He shrugged. "I want to buy something's at Hogsmeade."

Andrew turned to his brother. "Have you've been using the secret passageways?"

"If you didn't want me to use them, then you shouldn't have told me about them," he answered.

They were joined by Hermione Granger.

"Do you need something, Hermione?" Andrew asked.

"Harry has come up with an idea about that we teach ourselves to fight." She whispered.

"You can count me in. I'm sick of Toad Face."

"You can count me in too!" Alec piped up.

Andrew shot him a look.

"Good, we'll be having our first meeting in Hogmeade next weekend," she told them before leaving.

Wanting to calm down a little, Andrew left too. He loved his brother dearly, and he didn`t want to see him hurt. If he joined, he would be a target. He knew he needed to learn to fight, but he didn't want to see him hurt.

He found a vacant corridor and decided to look through the sketchbook and scrapbook there. He sat down on the cold stone floor ant took out the sketchbook.

It was aged; it had rings along with doodles. He opened it up and saw pictures made by a child, most of them containing stick figures. He noticed that the earlier ones had dates, and those were drawn ten years earlier. There was then a time gap, and it appeared none were added to the sketchbook until four years prior, and those pictures were of landscapes. He didn't get anything from the pictures other than the fact that the child who drew them loved their family.

He moved on to the scrapbook. He looked at the cover and smiled at the little girl. She really didn`t change that much appearance wise; she still had brown eyes and long, dark, wavy brown hair. The only difference in her from her past and present was the smile. It wouldn`t suit her present self.

He opened it up saw the story it contained. He saw Lynette enjoy her life, through ballet, piano, violin or just being with the family she adored; he could never imagine that girl to want to end her life. When the pictures ended, then it moved on to pictures of a cat, considering the top of the page had 'Willow' on it, he assumed that was its name. After the cat photos, (which was actually quite long) it went to recipes, (which he didn't pay much attention to) and, it moved onto letters. These letters contained apologies, advice, questions, news (mostly about Willow) and every single one of them was signed by an "Aunt May".

These letters actually gave away a very important clue to Andrew's quest. The reason as to why the pictures of happy family ended was because the happy family did end. The parents were killed and the little girl was the only survivor.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Upon discovering the fate of Lynette's parents, Andrew decided he needed more information. He didn't know how they died or what their names were- the letters didn't give him a lot of information, only that the Aunt cared deeply for Lynette. Why she didn't take her in after her parents died was mystery to Andrew, but he quite enjoyed mysteries.

To answer his questions, he decided to ask his best friend, Conner, whose father was a policeman.

Conner and Andrew had been friends since they started Primary School. They both dreamed of fighting all the demons that walk about the earth. Conner was also the only one among Andrew's five muggle friends that knew he was a Wizard. It wasn't intentional, but he knew.

Surprising, Conner knowing wasn't Andrew's fault. When the letter came, he and Conner were having a sleepover due to the fact that Conner's parents were on a trip. They were playing a card game, waiting for the nanny who was new and didn't know the distance from her house to their house, when suddenly; an owl came with a letter addressed to a Mr. A. Carter. Upon hearing the A. eleven year old Andrew and seven year old Alec got into one of their famous arguments. Then they all decided that, because he was the oldest in the group, Andrew would open it. In it he discovered it was from the setting of his mother's fictional stories. He didn't know how to react-the stories she told him came from her imagination, right? He had read a lot of mystery novels, and, because of that, he had obtained a mind that would question everything. He decided to ask his mother's good friend, Remus Lupin, and he remembered seeing his mother sending him a letter via owl. He did just the same thing, but asking him the come over he came, and gave a good fright to the nanny. Remus then talked to Mr. Carter on the phone, who had surprising left work early, and explained what was happening.

Andrew went up to his dormitory after classes (Lynette thankfully had Art, so he had a couple hours to spare) and wrote a letter to Conner.

_ Conner, _

_Sorry for not writing as much as I usually do. They enjoy to torture the fifth years with school work here, so I haven't find the time._

_I'm good. The new Defence teacher is a bitch, (maybe I should start calling her that, UmBitch-has a nice ring to it) Alec is doing good too. He stole all my money, claiming he wants to buy something in Hogsmeade (Little Bugger.)_

_Anyways, I have a job for you. I met a girl named Lynette Cole when she was about to jump off the Astronomy Tower. I, of course saved her and want to help her, but the thing is, she hardly talks to me besides tutoring (I tutor her in Defence, Transfiguration and Charms and she tutors me in Herbology and History). Because of this, I asked one her dorm mates to look in her things and I got her scrapbook. It had pictures from, judging from the sketchbook I also received, 1985. It also has letters from her Aunt May that said her parents were killed. Well, technically the letters said stuff like 'the man who did that to your parents is behind bars' and, 'be strong for them, Lynette' so I just think they were killed._

_I don't know much about her, but she does talk posh-like, so she may have been rich. Also, her aunt apologized a lot so, since she obviously didn't take her in, she might be in foster care. There wasn't any grandparents in the pictures of the scrapbook._

_Please look into it soon. I did meet her when she was about to jump off a tower, and I'm not with her all the time. I'm worried about her._

_Thank you, _

_Andrew._

He left his dorm and went to the Owlery. Then he went to the library to wait for Lynette.

When she finally arrived, Andrew knew right away that something was wrong. She had a worried expression on her face and when she sat down, she continually rocked back and forth. Andrew had noticed she was a little off today during lessons, but she hid her face with her hair and did not rock back and forth like she was doing at the moment. It shocked him that this was the little girl in the scrapbook who sent warmness to his heart.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded and said, "I'm fine"

"Are you sure? We can skip today if you want," he said.

"I said I'm fine, and I will not skip a day!" she snapped, earning a hush for Madam Prince.

Andrew sat there with his mouth open staring at Lynette. He would never imagine her to snap at him-or anyone for that manner. Thinking of what could have brought her to be in this mood, his mind drifted to the scrapbook and sketchbook. But he couldn't give them too her at the moment. He would have to explain why he had them, which would end up with Lynette being mad at him for eternity, so he decided not to.

But, Lynette was in no condition to study or do magic, so he made an excuse and plan.

He reached down to get his rucksack, and grabbed both the scrapbook the sketchbook, rose from his chair, and walked to the opposite side of Lynette, who had her gaze glued to the table. Carefully, he lifted them out of his rucksack and returned them to where they belonged. If Lynette noticed, she didn't show it.

"Well, I've had a rough day, and I didn't got a lot sleep last night, so I'm not in the mood to learn anyways, Can we please skip today? We can do it extra-long tomorrow-it's the weekend," he suggested and Lynette nodded.

"Good. Let me walk you back to your common room, ok?" He didn't want to leave her alone in the state she was in.

She nodded again.

Days later, Andrew received Conner's response.

_Andy,_

_So, you've got yourself a girlfriend when you're still in a relationship with Charlotte. (A.K.A: Party Girl, in case you forgot her name, which wouldn't surprise me with how you drank at that party). She's been asking about you- really annoying by the way. You know I told her you'll probably come back on Christmas Holidays, but judging from this girl, I don't think you will. Good Score by the way- Lynette's fit._

_Lynette Cole is the daughter of William (who was a well-respected lawyer) and Olivia Cole (who was a fashion designer). On Christmas/Boxing Day of 1985 someone broke into their home by smashing the windows in Lynette's room and killed William and Olivia, sparing Lynette. _

_Her father died holding her in his arms, and had markings suggesting that he was fighting the killer (probably protecting Lynette). Her mother was killed in her sleep._

_Her Aunt May was the one who called the police. She was apparently supposed to be living with them. She had divorced her husband and needed a place to stay so she contacted her younger sister, Olivia. She had just arrived that day. _

_Lynette was put into foster care she got dumped a lot, but was adopted when she was eleven by Edward and Bertha Jones._

_A couple months after the murders, Ethan Wright confessed and was arrested. He is currently serving a life sentence._

_Their deaths made a huge scandal. There are a lot of newspaper articles. I sent all I could find._

_Just to warn you, Lynette actually saw her parents' dead bodies. Her nightgrown was soaked with her father's blood. Also, she probably has abandonment issues with the foster system. There might be more too. Considering that she did attempt suicide, it's all probably affecting her. She may need professional help._

_Also, my dad worked on this case, and he doesn't believe the confession, so he might interview Wright sometime. Do you want me to ask him to take notes?_

_Have fun with your new girlfriend and say hi to Alec for me. In your reply, don't bother with asking me not to tell the others-they already know. I didn't tell them her name, but they know, and told everybody at school._

_Conner_

'The only good thing about this letter is that I know what happened to her parents,' Andrew thought to himself.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

Sweat covered her skin, tears flowed down her cheeks, and her hands shook like the ground during an Earthquake.

Nightmares were common for her; she had had them ever since she could remember. They were so common that she knew what to do whenever she had one- to look through the scrapbook she got from her Aunt May or the sketchbook that she had she could remember.

After calming herself down, she rose from her yellow patchwork quilted bed to her rucksack. After she reached it, she took it to her bed.

When she brought it there, and put her hand in it, she began to panic. She emptied the bags contents onto her bed. Out of it spilled text books, notes, quills, ink, pencils, erasers and her wand, but no sketchbook or scrapbook.

She panicked even more-she needed them. She couldn't bear the thought of not having them, so she looked under her four-poster bed, but came up with nothing. She looked through her trunk, emptying its contents, and transferring them to the wooden floor, but she didn`t find them. Feeling desperate, she roughly removed the quilt and copper bed warmer, in hopes that they were caught under them. They weren't.

She finally broke down, her back leaning against her opened truck, tears flowing down her face even more than when she woke up from her nightmare. Not wanting to wake the others up, she reduced her sobs. She would go to the common room, but in every year there's that one fifth year that does work on their schoolwork until they fall asleep. Lynette may not have had a good relationship between her dorm mates- and probably never would, but she would rather cry here with girls who have given up on befriending her, than a stranger.

She couldn't get her mind off of her treasures. They brought her happiness. Whenever she looked at them, she thought about the mother who couldn't protect her daughter. She thought of the father who gave his life protecting his daughter. She thought of the little boy that only appeared in the sketchbook, but most of all, she thought of the little girl who was practically invincible, but broke on the day of her parent's death.

She couldn't let them be forgotten- they were too important. They did so much for her, and it was the least she could do for them. She knew what it was like to be forgotten, abandoned, and unwanted, and she didn't want someone else to face that.

But she lost the treasures that held the memories. She _let them_ be forgotten. How could she do that to the people she cherished so much? Thinking of this made her cry harder. Still making her sobs quiet, after many tears, she finally went to sleep. And she dreamt a much better dream than her previous one.

Lynette Cole was an ebullient five year-old. She saw life as something to be enjoyed; as an adventure waiting to be experienced. With an adventure in mind, how can you not be excited?

Maybe her adventure seeking ways is what made her eager to start primary school. Her parents told her all about school, how she would be able to make friends and learn exciting new things. This was enough to win her over; she didn't have any friends because she was too shy to make any when she was in nursery school and the kids she knew were what she called 'snobby brats.' Her mother got invited to a lot of dinner parties and Christmas parties, and Lynette had always enjoyed them minus the snobby brats.

When she awoke on September 1st, 1985, she quickly remembered what day it was quickly took off her nightgown and traded it for her blue school uniform. She put on a matching hair band, to keep her long, thick, wavy, and light brown hair out of her face. She loved how her hair framed her face, and this love stayed with her during her aging, but she couldn't help but wish her hair wasn't so thick and that there was less of it. She got her rucksack out and joined her parents for breakfast.

When she entered the kitchen, she was, expectedly, greeted by her loving parents, William and Olivia Cole.

Lynette resembled Olivia in looks; they both shared the big brown eyes, both had the long, wavy, thick brown hair and both possessed a slim figure. They also both shared a passion for art- Olivia designed clothes for a living so she spent a lot of time at a desk, drawing the clothes she created in her mind, while Lynette had always been fascinated with how the pen glided across the paper, creating something different every time. Olivia saw this in her daughter and thus, what her father called her ('Lynette Da Vinci') was born.

In personality, although having had inherited some traits her mother possessed, she resembled her father more. William had quite a cheerful personality; he was always making jokes and laughing. He was known to have several of amusing things happen to him, such as, being caught taking his wife's home cooked sweets when she wasn't looking, always earning glare from her, and feeding his infant daughter chocolate.

Despite his childish ways, he was an adult, though, he did came from an wealthy family, despite being what was called a 'Nerd' he didn't let the bullying stop him, he studied hard to become something he became interested in when his mother was involve in a murder; a Lawyer. When checking out universities, he met an unconfident girl by the name of Olivia. He fell in with her and she did the same with him. They got married, finished school, got jobs, and had Lynette. In the eyes of many, the Cole family had perfect life, which was true.

"Good morning, Lynette, are you excited for your big day?" her mother asked, serving her some pancakes and pulling her chair out from under the table.

"Good morning, mummy! And yes, I am very excited for today!" the little girl answered, starting to eat her pancakes.

"Good morning, daddy!" she greeted her father, who was reading the newspaper.

"Morin' Lynnie," her father replied, lowering the newspaper and taking a sip of coffee. William enjoyed giving nicknames to those he cared for. It was how he showed affection you could say.

"William, do you have everything you need- wallet, briefcase, car keys?" Olivia asked. Another one of William's amusing experiences is that he has a habit of being forgetful. Once, at a meeting he forgot important papers that were replaced with drawings drawn by Lynette Da Vinci.

"Yes, I do"

"No, you don't. You're missing the briefcase, daddy." Lynette told her father.

"Why can't anything get past you, Lynnie?" her father complained.

"Well, if it did, you wouldn't bring your briefcase now would you?" his daughter retorted, taking a sip of milk from her glass.

Her father fell silent.

That is one of the differences between the past Lynette and the present Lynette. The past Lynette had the courage to retort to people, and to express her views on the world- things present day Lynette would never do.

"Now you two, it's time for you to get going." Olivia stated.

Upon hearing that, they rose from their seats. William was the one who drove Lynette to school because he had to drive to work every day while Olivia designed from home. She was the one who picked Lynette up from school and drove her to her music lessons (piano and violin) and to her ballet classes.

Before Lynette had a chance to leave, her mother stopped her to give her advice.

"If anyone ever says something mean to you, or to a friend, I want you to show them that they are wrong, okay?"

The young girl nodded. "Okay" she said. "Bye. I love you. See you after school mummy!" She hugged her mother.

"I love you too. Now go make friends and be a good girl" she told her daughter before kissing her goodbye and watched her leave with her father.

When she first laid eyes on her class room, she immediately took a liking to it. It had a book area, a play area and desks in the formation of an array. She felt at home there. She said goodbye to her father by giving him a hug.

The teacher, Ms. Dale, was kind. She paced the students and helped them if they were to get stuck. Ms. Dale was gentle and that made Lynette more comfortable around her and, thus she liked her.

When play time came, Lynette thought it would be a good time to make friends. Most of them were in groups, and she wasn't interested in that, so she approached a boy with black hair who was doing a puzzle alone.

"Hello. I'm Lynette! Can I please help you with the puzzle you're working on?" she asked the boy.

He nodded, not looking at the girl. Lynette never had a friend before, so she didn't how to act, but she knew this wasn't a good sign. She ignored the feeling and went to help him with the puzzle.

Lynette noticed that he was rather quiet, so she thought she would get him to talk.

"What's your name?" she asked, putting a piece together with another.

"Paul." He answered.

"That's a nice name" she complimented.

He looked up when she said this. She was shocked to see his face was covered with bruises. "You think so?" he asked.

"I do!" she answered truthfully "You have the same name as someone from The Beatles and an artist!" She explained excitedly. She caught a small smile on his face, which hid by looking at the floor.

"Your name is nice too," he said.

"Thank you," she replied.

Although it was short, this conversation started so much.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

Every day, Lynette was eager to go to school. She would be able to learn, and she needed good grades in order to a doctor. She would also be able to see Paul.

She and Paul were not just 'friends'- they were best friends. Everyday contained a new game, a new conversation, and laughter.

Although, her parents were good at being there for Lynette, she couldn't help but feel like burden to them at times, especially when they yelled at her when she bothered them a bit too much. Because of that, she sometimes distanced herself from her parents. She learned to style her own hair, learned to bathe herself, and learned to make herself breakfast. She wasn't neglected like some would think- she just didn't want to bother anyone. She was alone many times in her room, sitting on her bed listening to The Beatles and drawing. She was worried she would be alone in school as well, but that didn't happen thanks to Paul.

Today's game was Solider; Lynette was the Lieutenant (her name went well with the title), and Paul was her underman.

"March on, men!" Lieutenant Lynette ordered her one-man Army and he followed.

Lynette wasn't the only one who was excited for school- Paul was like a new person. Before meeting Lynette, he was worried if he was going to do well in school. His father had paid a lot of money for him to get in a Private School, and if he didn't succeed he would get punished. But with Lynette, he wouldn't have to worry. Lynette was fearless- that's why she was the head Soldier. She helped him with anything he had trouble with.

They were in the middle of training when a group of kids came.

"Hello, do you want to play with us? We're playing Soldier!" she invited them.

"Why would we want to with Bruise Boy and his girlfriend?" asked what seemed to be the leader of the group, who was leaning against a tree.

It was true- Paul possessed a lot bruises. His face was covered with them and Lynette noticed some that appeared when he extended his arms. She never asked him about them because she was scared he

would get offended or mad and stop being her friend.

She walked toward the overweight, dark haired bowl-cut boy. "Because we're really nice and won't ever call people names like the person who's standing in front of me." She smiled kindly at the boy.

He was clearly taken aback. He stopped leaning on the tree and stared Lynette in the eye. Lynette could not see his eye colour due to the fact that his cheeks covered them.

"At least we don't play with someone who's ugly like he is," he retorted.

Lynette laughed at his comment and Paul wondered how in the world she could laugh in the face of danger. He was much bigger than her- they all were- and he couldn't help her because he so afraid that he was paralysed.

"You're acting like a Hypocrite, calling him ugly."

He gained a confused look, "a Hypo-what?" he asked.

"A Hypocrite; someone who insults someone for being something, when they are the same thing. You called Paul ugly when you are ugly. Therefore, you are a Hypocrite," she explained.

Now he was angry. He clenched his fist at his side and raised his big arm with intentions to hit his lowerclassmen, but was stopped by one of his underlings.

"Wait- you can't hit a girl," he reminded his leader.

The leader stopped his fist an inch in front of Lynette's face, and the only sign she showed of fear was her wide eyes.

He couldn't hit a girl, which was true, so he settled with pushing her into a mud puddle created by the rain London has.

Mud splattered around the girl, and covered most of her small body, as well as some on the kids that surrounded her.

The Leader had a look of satisfaction. "At least I'm not the one who's covered in mud and is going to have to spend the whole day smelling worse than they usually do." He left with his underlings, but didn't go far before Lynette grabbed his ankle and pulled him down, giving him a mud mask.

She had remembered what her mother had told her; she wasn't going to let anyone walk over her like the ground. This boy had insulted both Paul and her and that was something she would not tolerate.

Lynette crawled on top on the leader, repeatedly putting his face in the mud. His underlings attempted getting her off of him, but were unsuccessful due to the grip she had on his coat. They decided to run away from the girl out of fear, but slipped on the mud, they did, however, rose from the mud and left the scene. Soon after their departure, a teacher came.

Paul sat in front of the Headmaster's office waiting for Lynette to be finish talking to her. He could hear the Headmaster's yells from where he was.

He knew she wasn't a pleasant woman. One of the reasons why he was able to get into this school was because she was friends with his father. She had come over to his house many times, and she mostly spent that time criticizing him.

Because of this, he was worried about his friend. Being yelled at was terrifying- he knew that and because of what Lynette did for him only minutes ago, the least he could do for her was comfort her when she needed it the most.

He was grateful for what she did for him. He came from an affectionless family in a bad neighbourhood. He thought that people were heartless, that befriending them would be pointless, until he met Lynette.

When he first met her, he wanted her to go away; to leave him be but she did the opposite. She stayed with him, helping with the puzzle and asking for his name. She tried to befriend him. He thought that she was the kind of person who wouldn't be in his neighbourhood, so he gave her his name, and she complimented it. The name he shared with his father, the name he had always hated, was complimented and that's when he decided to become her friend.

Their friendship was the best thing he had ever experienced. He never wanted it to go away. That's why he was waiting for her to come back. She would need comfort, and he would give it to her.

When she finally emerged from the Headmaster's office, a moist washcloth in her hands, he rose from the chair he was sitting in.

"How was it?" he asked, walking with her as she went to her rucksack to get her extra uniform.

"She's worse than that ugly hypocrite!" she explained.

"Why aren't you crying? She's friends with my dad. She isn't nice." He said.

"I'm surprised she has friends," she thought out loud.

He stopped and said, "Why aren't you crying. You don't have to hold it back." he told her.

She looked back at him with shock, and then with a troubling look. He knew she was debating on telling him why she wasn't crying.

"I would bother people if I cry. I don't want to bother people," she answered.

"You don't bother people." He assured.

She just shook her head and said, "These clothes are really uncomfortable. I want to change."

He knew she was ignoring the issue, but chose not to act against it. If someone wasn't listening, what was the point of talking to them?

Concern suddenly filled him. He remembered one girl older than himself from his neighbourhood. She would try to help Paul whenever he needed it, and when bad guys showed up, she would hide him and protect him. He liked her. But one day, after some bad guys went away, she asked him if he would be alright if she left. He was confused at first but answered yes. Later that day, an ambulance came and he never saw her again. What if Lynette had the same fate?

Throughout the rest of day, Paul kept a close eye on Lynette. She was her usual cheerful self, but he wondered if she was just burying the pain. He didn't want to ask if she was.

When the end of the day came, like every other day, he walked out of the school with Lynette, waiting for her parents to show up. He would then walk home by himself.

Most of the time, her father came to pick her up because her mother was always busy with work. Paul was under the impression that her father didn't like him. He never greeted him and always gave him an a unpleasant look. This made Paul uncomfortable around her father.

Today was different than most days, for not one adult was there waiting for Lynette, but two. "Mummy!" the young girl shouted when she saw the woman. Lynette's mother lowered herself down to pick her daughter up.

Paul watched as Lynette started conservation with her mother, still in her arms. Her mother talked to her daughter while smiling a smile that never left her face while she talked to her daughter. Paul wondered if that's how mothers were supposed to act.

"Mummy, this is my best friend, Paul," Lynette said in introduction.

Paul looked at her father, who had an annoyed look on his face.

"It's nice to meet you Paul. I'm Lynette's mother. We've heard a lot about you. We would love to have you over one day, if it's alright with your parents of course."

His spirts were lifted when she mentioned him coming over to their house. He would love to go Lynette's house, especially if it meant he could spend less time in his house and his neighbourhood. But, he felt intimated by the stare he got from Lynette's father. Lynette's mother saw this.

"William stop being so hard on Lynette's friend! He's in kindergarten for Pete's sake!"

"I don't care. He could be bad news!" he replied.

"Paul's not bad news! He's my friend!" Lynette told her father.

Her father didn't answer her and stopped looking at Paul with that hateful expression. He then left with his family.

Paul walked to his dangerous home with Lynette's family in mind. He wondered if there were others like them. Maybe they would take him away from his house.


	10. Chapter Ten

**A/N: New cover by: **LittleMissShadow on Quotev.

**Chapter Ten**

"Can you really come over today?" Lynette said with excitement to Paul while taking a bite of her apple.

"I asked my parents last night and they said yes," he lied. He never asked his parents if he could go over. He knew they would decline the request, so he didn't ask.

"I couldn't ask mummy and daddy because they were busy, and I have ballet today, and my babysitter is picking me up today too. But I'm sure you can still come over; she's really nice and she'll believe me if I say mummy and daddy said it was okay."

"You sound busy. Is that why you have bags under your eyes?" he asked

She nodded. "I'm really busy. I didn't have time to do something I really wanted to do, so I asked her if I could stay up longer to finish it. It's been taking me longer than I thought it would."

"What is it?" Paul asked, taking a sip of the juice that he and Lynette were sharing.

"It's a temporary secret" she said, smiling.

"What's a temporary secret?" he asked, not having heard the term before.

"A secret is something someone doesn't want to tell someone. I don't want to tell you what I'm working on right now, but I'm going to tell you when the day comes, so it's a temporary secret," she explained.

Paul smiled at her. She was always giving people or things different names, and it sent warmth to a heart that was used to only coldness.

"Are you sure it'll be alright if I come to your ballet lessons and house without your parent's permission?" he asked Lynette while they were walking to meet her babysitter. He felt uneasy about the idea of disobeying both his parents and Lynette's. Still, Lynette gave him courage, and he would break the rules if it meant spending time with her.

"I told you, Gabby lets me do anything if I say my parents said I can."

She doesn't seem like a good babysitter, he thought to himself.

"Hello, Gabby, this is my best friend, Paul!" Lynette introduced the two.

Paul looked up at the girl. She had short, black, curly hair and brown eyes. Paul couldn't help but feel like he had met her somewhere before.

"Hello, Paul, it's nice to meet you!" Gabby greeted the little boy and he nodded to her.

"My parents said he can come over today, so can he come with us?" Lynette asked the teenager.

"If it's okay with your parents, it's okay with me," she agreed and Lynette gave a look at Paul saying 'I told you.'

"How was your day?" Gabby asked the two of them after a couple of steps.

"It was good. Mrs. Dale let us draw today, and I have my picture in my rucksack if you want to see it!" Lynette offered.

"Sure!" Gabby agreed.

Lynette took off her rucksack to get her picture and gave it to Gabby.

"It's a kitty sleeping after being petted by her owner." Lynette explained.

"It's excellent. You've drawn a lot of kitties. Do you like them?" Gabby asked, giving Lynette her picture back.

"How could you not like kitties? They're cute and furry and soft and sweet. I wouldn't draw them if I didn't like them. I really want one, but mummy and daddy won't get one because they want to wait for some reason." She pouted.

"Maybe they want to make your Christmas special by giving you a kitty?" Gabby suggested.

The little girl's face lit up. "You think? Christmases are really fun because my Uncle Dylan and Aunt May come over and we have a feast with mummy's cooking. It's already fun, so they don't have to do anything, but I would like the best Christmas this year!"

"I hope you do!" Gabby smiled at her and then turned to Paul who was listening to their conversation with his gaze on the ground.

"Did you have fun drawing today, Paul? Do you have any pictures I can see?"

"I had fun today, but I forgot my drawings at school." He always had fun at school because Lynette was there, but he didn't forget his drawings. They were actually in the trash due to the fact that he didn't want his parents to see them.

"That's too bad. I would love to see them sometime," she said with disappointment and he nodded.

After some time walking and listening Lynette and Gabby talk, Paul remembered where he had seen Gabby before.

He recalled seeing her with Flora, the girl who helped him when he was in trouble. He wondered if Gabby knew what happened to Flora, but didn't want to ask with Lynette there.

When they finally arrived where Lynette's lessons were being held, Lynette rushed to the changing room while Gabby and Paul waited.

It was an awkward moment. They didn`t know want to say to each other. To escape the awkward moment, Paul looked at a mother fixing her daughter`s hair.

He wanted to ask Gabby about Flora. He wanted to know if she was okay; if she was happier where she is than where she was. But he didn`t know what to say.

Before he knew it, Lynette came out in her ballet uniform. Paul was a little disappointed that she wasn`t wearing a tutu. He thought that it would be amusing to see her in one considering he doubted that she would like wearing one.

He watched Lynette perform simple ballet. It didn't surprise him that she was good at it; it seemed like she was good at everything to him.

At some point, the ballerinas had a break. Paul took this time to talk to Lynette.

"You were really good" he complimented her.

"Thank you. Here, have a cookie!" she offered him one and he took it.

For a little bit they talked, but their conversation was cut short when Lynette overheard a comment made by someone who she called a snobby brat.

The comment was about how one of the few ballerinas in the class she hadn't done a move correctly.

"She's better at most moves than you" Lynette told the snobby brat.

The snobby brat was stunned, as most were when Lynette spoke up. She was usually quiet while in her ballet class, but someone making fun of someone else when they weren`t mean to them was not something Lynette was going to watch.

"No she isn't, I'm the best in the class" the snobby brat gloated.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Lynette asked.

The snobby brat was speechless and Lynette sat back down with Paul.

When they got to her house, it was getting dark. Paul was getting worried that they might not have much time to play. His worries came true when Gabby said his fears.

"I'm sorry but you have to go to bed soon, Lynette, so Paul can't stay long. How about you show him your room then he can go home." Gabby suggested.

"Why can't I stay up? I've been staying up late every night for the last week!" she explained.

"About that, I talked to your father about you staying up late, and he told me to not listen to that excuse anymore. So, no, you cannot stay up late."

"Paul made me do it," she raised her arm so that she was pointing at his head.

"No I didn't," he defended himself.

"Lynette, don't blame others for your mistakes" Gabby scolded her while she put the key in the lock.

Lynette pouted as they walked into the house.

Expectedly, Paul was amazed by the house. The outside was nothing new to him, unlike the inside. The inside was stylish with colours matching colours, and styles matching styles. He was amazed by it.

"Come on, Paul let me show you my room!" Lynette dragged him to a lilac door and he watched her open it.

He thought the room was over done with the colouring- which was a variety of shades of purple. He wondered if Lynette was the one who designed it. He knew her favourite colour was purple.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

"It's nice" he said.

Lynette smiled and showed him her desk. It was covered with art supplies, such as, paint, brushes, pencils, crayons and a few paint splotches on the desk. She showed him a sketch book. A lot of the pictures contained either stick figures that he assumed were her family or cats. He knew a cat was something Lynette wanted for a long time

Gabby soon came to tell them that it was time for Paul to go home. He said goodbye to Lynette and to her father (who had come back from work) and walked home with Gabby.

"Paul, I know you and Flora were close, so you probably want to know what happened to her. You'll know when you're older and I can tell you she's happier now" she told him once they were at his house.

He was relieved to hear that she was happy. That's all he wanted to know; he didn't care where she was as long as she was happy.

"Thank you, Gabby" he said and she nodded at him then left.

Paul took a deep breath to prepare himself for the scene he would soon experience.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Ever since Paul first went visited Lynette's house, he started going on a lot more weekdays and weekends. He enjoyed watching the Cole family playfully argue and tease each other.

Also, Mrs. Cole was a fashion designer without a little boy to wear her work-in-progresses, and, because of that, he became a model during the moments she needed one. The highlight of it was the fact that Mrs. Cole's employer was apparently quite picky. To save a trip to donate the clothes he was given them, and he was happy considering he hardly had any clothes. The worst part was probably the fact that Lynette always laughed at him when he was modeling-even when she was modeling and knew full well that she would get scolded

He also helped Mr. Cole with his cases. He and Lynette helped him look through old cases a lot-well, they did all of the work and Mr. Cole supervised. He noticed that Mr. Cole wasn't completely comfortable with Paul being there, but was slowly starting to accept his presence due to the many scolds he received from his wife.

Unlike the modeling, he was always reluctant to look through them. He looked a lot like his father, the both of them possessing icy blue eyes and black hair. He worried that if they found a case of his father, they would put together the similarities of the two, and then not let him come over anymore.

He often wondered why he didn't want to lose a family he didn't even belong in.

To Lynette's chagrin, Halloween was coming closer and closer with each passing day.

When Lynette and Paul were waiting for Lynette's father to take them to the Cole residence, Lynette said that she didn't like Halloween.

"Why don't you like it?" Paul asked with confusion.

He always thought that Halloween would be her favourite Holiday. He knew Lynette enjoyed dressing up- she told him that and he saw it with his own eyes. He also knew that Lynette had a sweet tooth, especially with Chocolate.

"People dress up as anything, but they are never what they dress up as; people should be what they really are. Halloween doesn't let that happen," she replied.

He thought about what she had just told him. Halloween was probably his most favourite holiday. The monsters in his neighbourhood finally showed their true colours. Some innocent looking people are actually horrible beings that hurt you and make you want to quit society. Others look terrifying but can be the kindest people who you'll ever meet. Halloween is the one night where the innocent looking can switch with the terrifying looking.

"Isn't that the point of Halloween?" he asked.

"I guess so, but I don't like it. People should be who they are and not dress up as someone else," she said looking down at the cement sidewalk.

He thought longer and asked "what if they want to be something else, but are too scared to change?"

"I know its scary changing, but we already do a lot of scary things, and if you wait, you may never get to be who you want to be," she said, still looking at the cement sidewalk.

There are many benefits to wisdom. One is causing the ones around you to re-think the world they thought they knew. However, a disadvantage of it is that sometimes people don't agree with the wisdom they had just heard, Paul was one of those people.

Lynette had a perfect life. She had a beautiful house, she had money, she had ballet and music lessons, she had parents, and she had love. How could she know anything about the fear he felt while standing in front of his worst fear? About having that fearsome being telling him that he was doing was wrong and cowardly, and trying to transform him from a weak, crying lump on the wood floor, to a strong person who wouldn't back down, and hitting him in the temple.

But, he could never tell Lynette off. Not only were they waiting for someone who was just putting up with Paul, but after experiencing the joy of friendship, he didn't want it to end.

They stayed in silence until Lynette's father came.

When they got to the Cole's residence, they were surprised by plans to make their Halloween costumes. Paul had never been trick-or-treating before. He hasn't even seen trick-or-treaters, so he was excited to finally be going for once. He knew Lynette was excited, judging from the look on her face, but, instead of Halloween, she was probably excited to have to model for a while, or was excited to see Paul model. Knowing her it was probably both.

They sat down in the sitting room with Hot Choco, thinking of what to make.

"So, what do you want be this year?" Mrs. Cole asked the two kids.

"I want to be a Princess!" Lynette announced as she stood on her seat of the sofa with her arms pumped up.

"Princess it is then. And sofas are made to sit on, not to stand, Lynette." Mrs. Cole scolded her daughter and made her pout.

She turned to Paul and asked, "What do you want to be, Paul?"

He didn't know what to be. Should he be something he wanted to be, or be himself? Before coming up with a decision, Lynette interrupted it.

"He should be a Prince!" she suggested quite loudly.

Paul wouldn't mind being a Prince. Sometimes in the games they played, Lynette would use a reference to a fairy tale she liked, or Paul would play the Prince. He wanted to be brave like Lynette was when she gave the ugly hypocrite a mud face.

"I think you've had too much Hot Choco, Lynette." Mr. Cole told her daughter and rose from his chair and took her cup.

Lynette, being the chocolate lover she was, did not react kindly to this. When her father took away the cup, she claimed, "No, I haven't" then grabbed on to her father's fore arm. Paul was impressed that Mr. Cole could handle Lynette's weight by his fore arm, but Lynette was five and was one of the shortest in their class.

"At least let me finish the cup!" Paul heard Lynette beg her father while he entered the kitchen.

"Are you alright with being a Prince, Paul?" Mrs. Cole asked, her kind eyes staring at him.

He nodded.

"Why did you put it that high? I'm too short, even with a chair!" Paul heard Lynette express. He smiled and took a sip of his Hot Coca.

Soon after she said that, there was a crash, Immediately, Mrs. Cole rose from her work desk to go investigate the kitchen and Paul followed.

When they arrived, Lynette was holding her cup of Hot Coca, triumphantly taking sips of it while her father was on his knees, holding his head with a pot rack lying near him.

"I got my Hot Coca back!" She held it up at her mother and friend when she saw them and took another sip of it and turned to her father "are you hurt, daddy?" she asked her father in a worry tone.

Upon hearing her worried tone, he quickly rose from the tiled floor, "I'll be fine, Lynnie" he assured his daughter.

"What happened?" Mrs. Cole asked.

Lynette shrugged and took another sip of Hot Coca and answered with, "I don't know, he put my Hot Coca on top of the cupboard and then that thingy fell."

"I guess it had a loose screw. Are you sure you're okay, William? Do we need to take you to the hospital?" she asked her husband.

"I'll be fine, I just need some ice." He turned to Lynette. "I hope you're enjoying your Hot Coca!"

After taking a sip of Hot Coca, she answered with, "I always enjoy Hot Coca."

On Halloween, Paul and Lynette stood beside each other with Olivia behind a camera.

She had recently completed the costumes of a Princess and a Prince. She had decided to match them for different reasons. The main one is that she thought it would be cute.

The costumes were light blue. Prince Paul`s outfit consisted of a light blue vest with gold buttons, and pure white pirate shirt underneath with black pants that were tucked into his knee high boots.

Lynette`s dress was light blue. It was tight on her torso, but puffed out on the sleeves and floor length skirt.

"You both look great!" Olivia cooed.

"Can we go trick-a-treating now?" Lynette asked.

Olivia took one more picture and said, "Now we can go."

Paul and Lynette traveled house to house, gathering more and more candy with each one. When running to the next house, because or her dress, Lynette almost tripped, but, fortunately, someone saved her from destroying her dress.

She turned to him so she could say her gratitude at his face. When she did turn around, she saw a man on his haunches with stubble along his under nose, chin and cheeks. He also had black hair that was graying and icy blue eyes. He immediately reminded her of Paul, but they had a different atmosphere from each other. Paul had a curious, broken one, while the man in front of Lynette had a frightening one.

"Aren't you a pretty Princess." The man smiled, revealing badly taken care of teeth.

Lynette didn't want to show her fear of the man, so she smiled at him. "Thank you, mister. You look a lot like my friend, Paul" she reached into her bag and pulled out a candy. She then extended her arm and asked, "do you want a candy?"

"Thank you" he accepted.

"Lynette!" she heard her father call her.

"Over here, daddy!" she waved her arm.

When arrived at his daughter's side, his face darkened at the sight of the man in front of him and his daughter.

"Lynette, it's time to get going" he told her with anger in his voice.

"Okay, daddy. Thank you again, mister." She waved good bye at the man and left with her father.

"Lynette, if you ever see him again, don't talk to him." Her father told her sternly.

"Why not? He stopped my dress from getting dirty," she replied, defending the man.

He put his hands on his daughter's shoulders and lowered himself so that they had the same levelled eye contact. "Just don't talk to him or look at him. Do understand me?" He had a stern voice that made her scared and she nodded.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

After Halloween came Christmas- Lynette's favourite holiday and Paul's least.

Paul was well aware of the family theme Christmas had, and he hated it. The world gave the impression that Christmas was a peaceful time of year; everyone forgave everyone and everyone gave to everyone. But the world he knew wasn't such a wonderful place.

Lynette was the opposite. Christmas was her favourite Holiday because of the forgiveness and the gifts. Also, she was visited every year by the only family she had besides her parents and Paul;-her Aunt May and Uncle Dylan.

May was always kind to Lynette. She would play with her, help make the feast with her, and give her gifts. Lynette, however, didn't interact much with her Uncle Dylan. He didn't play with her, or help with cooking- in fact, he didn't even give her presents. Although hurt by his demeanor, she always treated him nicely simply because he was part of the family and she was always joyful on Christmas.

Because of her greatness of her joy, she decided to spread it. She gave away Olivia's homemade sweets and pastries at Olivia's new shop (after a lot criticism with her fashion designing, Olivia decided to quit her job and start her own business, which she called, Cole's) and made a present for her best friend, Paul.

"What are you holding?" Paul asked during recess of the last day of school before Christmas.

"Your Christmas present!" She extended her arms and raised them so that he would be able to take it.

"My what?" he asked, bewildered.

"Your Christmas present. I worked really hard on it. I hope you like it!" she told him.

With a shocked face, he accepted the present, opened it and saw a sketch book. Curious, he took it out of the box and looked at the cover.

It had two stick figures holding hands. One had long hair and wore a dress with flowers on it, making him believe it was Lynette. The other had black hair with bangs that covered his eyebrows-much like his own. He believed that he was himself. In the background was a rainbow, but he didn't care about it- he cared about the kids.

"That's you" Lynette pointed at the boy. "And that's me" she pointed at the girl.

He was speechless, but he opened the book at in it was their story. The first picture was them doing a puzzle, and after that was pictures of games they played and events they witnessed together. He loved it.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

All he could do was nod.

That was the last time the abused boy and the cheerful girl ever saw each other.

"When will they be here?" Lynette asked her mother for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

It was Christmas Eve. Every year, the Cole's put up their Christmas Decorations on this date, but they normally did it with Aunt May and Uncle Dylan.

"I'm sure they had trouble picking out a Christmas present for you. That's why they're so late," her mother assured her.

"But I don't care a lot about presents! I want to put up the tree and help cook the Feast and play with Auntie May!" she explained.

"And you'll be able to- just wait for little bit longer. I'll make you some Hot Coca," her mother said before leaving for the kitchen.

"I'll know what I'll do. I'll write to Father Christmas and ask him to bring them here!" she explained, jumping off the armchair she was in.

When she was finished writing, she asked her mother to take her to deliver it as her father was out buying a tree.

"I'm sorry, but Father Christmas is delivering all of the presents for children and won't be able to read your letter," her mother told her with regret.

"Then how will they get here!" she raised her arms over her head.

"How about we start with the feast?" her mother suggested.

Lynette was reluctant to start the feast before Aunt May arrived. She didn't think it was right to start something, while leaving someone out. But she was bored and hated declining her parents. So she started helping her mother with the feast, listening to the Beatles in the background.

Even after they prepared the feast and Mr. Cole came home with a Christmas tree, they still hadn't arrived.

The Cole's began to worry about their family. The adults, having to be strong for their daughter, didn't show their worry. Lynette, unlike her future-self, didn't hide her worry. She was silent and cried while they were decorating the Christmas tree. Because her parents doubted that she would be able to sleep with her worry, she slept with them that night.

The next day was Christmas. Most kids sat on their beds and quickly ran out of their room to the Christmas tree. But, at the moment, Lynette wasn't like most kids. She didn't care about any presents; all she wanted was her Aunt and Uncle to come.

She groggily got out of her parents bed and walked to the sitting room.

"Merry Christmas, Lynette!" she was greeted when she entered the room.

"Merry Christmas, mummy and daddy!" she greeted back, trying to smile.

They saw the attempt of a smile and didn't say a word about it.

"Looks like Father Christmas came last night!" her mother expressed.

"Did he bring Aunt May and Uncle Dylan?" she asked hopefully.

"No, sweetie"

Her hope was quickly extinguished with these words. She then remembered that it was Christmas. She shouldn't be upset. Christmas was a time when miracles could happen. Maybe she would still experience one.

This thought comforted her. She walked over to the tree and grabbed a rounded box. She opened it and heard a meow.

She quickly picked her present up, stood up to face her parents, and explained, "A Kitty!"

"I didn't want to ask Father Christmas because I thought it would be too scary for a Kitty."

She looked at the Kitten in her arms and it looked back at her with blue eyes filled with curiosity. It was a grey tabby with soft fur that spiked out at the cheeks and tail.

Her gaze briefly left the kitten to ask, "Is it a boy or girl?"

"A girl" her mother answered with a smile.

She looked back at the kitten and decided on a name- Willow.

"Let's call her Willow!" she suggested.

They all agreed to the name.

Aunt May and Uncle Dylan didn't arrive, but Lynette was so distracted with Willow and Doctor Who so she didn't really notice.

When the time came, they got ready for the Christmas party that was going to be held that day. Lynette wore a red dress with a red ribbon and a red hair band.

Like every other Christmas party she had been to, she was seated with snobby brats. But not all were snobby brats.

This year, there was a boy she had never seen before. He had Auburn hair that spiked up, revealing a freckled face and light blue eyes.

She grew curious of the boy. He talked to the kids beside him, and by the looks of it, insulted a lot of them. After a lot thinking, she finally spoke to him.

"Is this your first Christmas party?" she asked.

"Yup" he answered, taking a bite out his desert.

"It's a bad idea to talk to kids here- they're all snobby brats!" she told him.

"I've already figured that one out" he said, turning his head to the blonde boy sitting beside him.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Andrew."

"I'm Lynette!"

The two little kids talked for quite a while. When Lynette spotted her parents, she quickly grabbed Andrew so that she could introduce him to them.

"Where are you taking me?" he demanded.

She didn't answer because they were almost to their destination. When they arrived, her parents were talking an auburn haired woman in a white cocktail dress.

"Mummy, daddy, I made a new friend! His name is Andrew!" Lynette told her parents excitedly.

"Hello, Andrew. I'm Lynette's mother. It's nice to meet you!" Olivia greeted the young boy.

William nodded at him.

"It's nice to meet you to, Lynette's Mother." He replied and caused Olivia to laugh.

"You can call me Olivia."

Andrew turned his head to the auburn haired woman. "Mum, this is Lynette." Andrew introduced the two.

"It's nice to meet you, Andrew's mother" Lynette said.

"You too," she said with a smile.

After that, Olivia and Andrew's Mother got into a conversation. Lynette overheard her mother calling Andrew's mother 'Anna,' and then she and Andrew decided to take a look at the desert table.

However, due to their shortness, they couldn't get some deserts. They tried on their tippy-toes, but that didn't work, so they settled with the decision that Andrew would give Lynette a height boost. He would lift her so that she would be able to get the desert.

However, it didn't go as planned. A glass fell off the table, breaking once it hit the floor. That was the moment when their parents' caught them.

Their parents quickly noticed this and walked to their children.

"Andrew, what are you doing?" Anna asked.

"Eating chocolate-what does it look like I'm doing?" he answered.

"Don't you think you had enough chocolate for one day?" Anna asked.

Andrew turned his head to the little girl sitting on the table and asked, "What do you think, Lynette?"

"You can never have too much chocolate!" she explained.

He turned his head back to his mother and answered with the words, "Guess I haven't had enough." After hearing this, Anna sighed and said to herself, "I really shouldn't of left you with James".

"It's getting late. We should go home and get Lynette to bed," Olivia stated. She took out a piece of paper and a pen from her purse, wrote something on it, and gave it to Anna. "This is our phone number. You should give us a call soon. I'm sure Andrew and Lynette would love to see each other again."

Anna smiled, took the paper, and said, "Will do. Come on Andrew-let's go find your father."

Andrew bid his goodbye to Lynette before leaving with his mother.

"Come on Lynette. We should go home and check on Willow."

Upon hearing that, Lynette jumped off the table, grabbed her parent's hands, and went to the car.

Despite the chocolate she consumed, she fell asleep during the car ride home. William carried her out of the car and into her overly purple bedroom, changed her out her dress and into her nightgown. He then left the room after taking one last look at his sleeping daughter.

William had always been a light sleeper. He woke up with his wife in his arms to a noise in his house. He rose from the bed to investigate.

When he emerged from his room, he saw a man about to enter the room of Lynette Cole- something William would not tolerate.

He attacked the intruder- the only thing on his mind was protecting his daughter.

After many punches and bangs, Lynette emerged from her room with sleepy eyes.

"Daddy?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

He looked at the innocent little girl behind him. He rose from the body that he was on top of and turned to her and rested on his haunches.

"Lynnie, I want you to hide, and to not come out until morning, no matter what. Do you understand me?"

Lynette saw the strictness in his eyes and chose not to argue with him. She left to go find a hiding place, she settled with her closet.

William watched as she left, and that was his mistake because the intruder had a knife, and he stabbed William in the stomach from the back.

William fell to the floor, his arm getting soaked with his own blood. But, he got up and painfully walked to Lynette's room.

He knew it was a bad idea, but he was dying and he couldn't make it to his wife. Plus, Lynette needed comforting- she was probably scared out of her mind.

When he entered the room, he was greeted by a meow from Willow. He knew Lynette well enough to know she would hide in her closet, so that's where he went. He opened the door and found her sleeping with her head on her knees, which were hugged to her chest. He sat down next to her and put her in his lap.

Lynette woke up like that. She looked up at her father and noticed he was pale and after coming to her senses, cold. So, she left her closet to get a duvet from her bed. It was then when she realized a red substance on her nightgown. She recognized it from a time she fell and scraped her knee; all she needed was a Band-Aid. She would get one after she put the duvet on her father.

Upon, bringing it to him, she noticed that he needed a Band-Aid too. She left her room and went to the restroom to get the Band-Aids, but couldn't get them because they were too high for her to reach. So, she decided to ask her mother to do it.

She entered the room to find her mother lying on the bed, surrounded by the red substance. Lynette climbed onto the bed to wake her up.

"Mummy, me and daddy need a Band-Aid and I can't reach them. Can you please get them?" She attempted to wake her up, but was unsuccessful.

"Mummy, wake up!" she shoved her and got the same results.

She attempted to get the Band-Aids again. While making a stack that would raise her height, the doorbell rang. She was taught not to open the door, so she continued with stacking the items.

When she finished, she went on top of it, but quickly fell due to it being unstable. She got back up and faced the window and noticed the face of her Aunt.

Lynette ran to the front door to let her in.

"What took you so long? Where's Uncle Dylan?" Lynette asked, hugging her aunt.

"Uncle Dylan got held up in something and wasn't able to come this year and I got held up in Traffic. I'm sorry that I couldn't make it in time for Christmas." After saying this, May noticed the red substance on Lynette's nightgown.

"What happened to your nightgown?" she asked.

"I don't know. I just woke up like this. Mummy and daddy are like this too, so I was trying to get some Band-Aids for them." She answered, looking down at her nightgown.

"Can I see them? I might be able to help," May smiled at her.

Lynette nodded. Considering they were closest to the Master bedroom, Lynette took her there. Lynette watched with curiosity when she put her hands over her mouth out of shock.

"Is something wrong? She's just sleeping right?" Lynette asked.

"Where's your father?" she asked instead of answering.

"He's in my room, sleeping," she answered.

May had been there so many times that she knew the house well. She went to Lynette's room by herself and Lynette followed her.

"Are mummy and daddy okay?"

May looked conflicted to find an answer, so she ignored it. "How about you change out of your nightgown while I make a phone call?" she suggested while looking through Lynette's wardrobe.

"I'm not going to do anything until mummy and daddy are okay!" she shouted and the light that was on the ceiling flickered.

Aunt May took her rose her head to looked at the light and dismiss it as a dying light bulb. Lynette's fear didn't decrease; lights flickered, windows and light bulbs shattered. Aunt May noticed them, but her main objective was Lynette.

May finally picked something out for Lynette, told her to change, and then called the police.

Lynette stood in front of her house, watching Aunt May and neighbours talk to the police. But, she spent most of that time watching Paramedics take her parents away. She wanted to ask where they were going and when they'd be back, but she couldn't speak.

A woman dressed in a suit finally came up to her and told her to pack her things. Usually she would object, but she couldn't. So she entered her home that was filled with investigators to get her things. She grabbed her rucksack and filled it with clothes, and in it also put her brush, comb, tooth brush, sketchbook and art supplies. The woman then guided her to her car and thus, the present day Lynette was born.

Upon entering the foster care system, she wasn't the same.

When she first entered foster care, she tried to be happy and energetic, but, something always happened that caused her to be abandoned, even when she least expected it- money would suddenly become an issue, they would become unexpectly pregnant, or she would get too emotional and thus, blow something up.

After one too many abandonments, she soon became afraid of the world around her. She locked herself in her room, only coming out for school (which she had begun to hate), meals, and the restroom. At first the families gave her time, but, after a certain amount of time, they all decided to abandon her.

When she got her Hogwarts letter, she was with a foster family that was actually discussing giving her up; but they 'decided' (or, more so, were forced by McGonagall) not to because she needed a permanent address. She was never happy there.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**A/N: Thank you for reading Saved up to hear and I am happy to announce that Saved has a trailer made by /JustEvelyn here is it: watch?v=jdIkbza50dE**

**Chapter Thirteen **

As she watched the auburn haired teenager walk away she realized something; people leave.

All Lynette ever wanted was a family. She wanted to feel like she belonged, she wanted to feel safe, and she wanted a home. But every single 'family' she was with left her alone in the cruel world.

She didn't want to feel the hurt of someone leaving ever again.

Lynette never went to the Tutor session; she just stayed in her dorm, in her curtain surrounded bed, doing schoolwork and ignoring the whispers that belonged to her roommates, saying Andrew was waiting in front of the Hufflepuff common room. He never saw who he was waiting for.

When Monday came, she awoke, so she could eat breakfast without being disturbed by Andrew. Yet, like many of her plans, it was foiled because Andrew had woken up early today as well, and was not impressed with Lynette.

Lynette's breakfast was interrupted by someone who was sitting next to her on her left saying 'Oi.' This usually wouldn't interrupt her breakfast, but the person was apparently pushed out of his seat by a certain auburn haired Gryffindor.

"Good morning, Lynette. Mind to tell me why you've been ignoring me all weekend?" he asked, taking a piece of toast for himself.

Lynette purposely took a big bite out of her apple when he started talking so that she could buy some time. She felt guilt at his words; she knew what it was like to be ignored and didn't want anyone to experience it. So she almost thought up an excuse as to why she did ignore him, but she remembered the loneliness she felt every time a family left her. She didn't want to feel like that, so she emerged from Hufflepuff table, apple still in hand, ignoring Andrew's calls for her, and when she found out he was following her, she hid in the girl's lavatory until lessons started.

She arrived at the classroom later than she usually did, and noticed a great amount of females waiting in front of the classroom. Considering that they all glared at her when she arrived, she figured that they had noticed that Andrew would wait for her to arrive so that they could sit together. They were probably waiting to see if Lynette was coming today. If she wasn't, they could sit with him. If she was there, they would basically talk about Lynette behind her back.

When she saw their death glares, she rolled her eyes. She wasn't exactly in the mood to be judged just because she tutored someone much more popular than she is.

"Excuse me, please" she said, as they were blocking the entrance.

They seemed shocked that she talked and cleared a path for her. When she entered the crowed classroom, she remained calm and sat in the back row on the farthest seat from Andrew.

She wondered if Andrew noticed her when she walked in. She imagined a hopeful face that was suddenly removed at the sight of her sitting with someone else.

She knew her ignoring him was selfish (something she never wanted to be) but, there was a reason as to why she wasn't a Gryffindor-she gave into fear too easily.

That was how lessons went that day. During lessons they had together, Andrew was always left with an empty seat for a short period after Lynette arrived before it got filled with a girl he hardly knew, or a friend who saw his frustration filled face. After that, she felt his gaze on her no matter what angle she was sitting from.

Lynette was feeling good about herself when she was in the art studio. When choosing new lessons in her second year, she was actually feeling good, which is surprising considering the events that were going on that year, when she saw Art as an elective. She could choose from two, Muggle Art and Art. Considering she doubted she had a future in the Muggle world after being at Hogwarts she signed up for Art, and it was one of her favourite part of the days it was held.

When looking for the right colour of paint she needed, a hand suddenly grabbed her own and took her out of the studio.

She didn't have to look to know who it was. Andrew was basically the only person she talked to, and he grabbing her when she was ignoring him was a classic Andrew thing to do.

Andrew guided Lynette a far distance from the art studio. They finally stopped in an empty corridor.

Despite stopping; Andrew didn't let go of Lynette's arm. Because of this, a familiar uneasy feeling filled her.

She was afraid to look at him, so she just stared at the stone floor.

"Why are you not talking to me?" he asked in a gentle voice.

Lynette didn't want to talk to anyone about what she felt. Her feelings and past was the one thing that was hers. Sure, she had her sketchbook and scrapbook, but she always feared that someone could look through them and find out her darkest secrets. If she hid them inside herself she wouldn't have to worry about someone finding them out.

Not wanting to tell him, she tried to tug her arm from his strong grip.

"Lynette, would you please just tell me what is bothering you!" he shouted, his grip tightening on her arm.

She shook her head, trying desperately to prevent herself from crying and to get her arm out of his grip.

But Lynette was never good at hiding her pain; she let a few tears fall on Andrew's bare arm.

Upon feeling the tears, his grip softened around her arm, and when it did, she again tried to get her arm out of his grasp. But, to prevent her from escaping, Andrew grabbed her other arm.

He looked sternly at her and asked in a gentle tone, "Why are you crying?"

Most may become relaxed upon hearing the tone, but Lynette grew afraid. She didn't want to tell anyone why she was crying, but she wanted to leave but and couldn't because she was being held captive by Andrew. The only thing she could do was talk.

"P-please l-let me go!" she said over her tears.

His stern gaze remained when he told her, "I'm not letting you go when you're like this"

Andrew Carter has many good traits and bad traits, but the ones that stand out besides his humor are his caring ways and his determination, but these are the traits that annoy Lynette the most, but she couldn't help but love them at the same time.

"Please!" she begged.

"No! Not until I'm sure you're going to be alright!" his gentle tone vanished when he said this.

Lynette finally snapped.

"Stop pretending that you're not going to leave me!" she cried.

Andrew stood there. He knew of the hardships Lynette has been through; her parents being murdered, and the foster program. She had been strong for so long, and everything had a limit.

"Lynette, why would I leave you?" he asked.

She thought about it. She has done so many terrible things. Aunt May had written to her on Christmas and her Birthday, sending her pictures of her, her parents, her mother's recipes and Willow (after her parent's death, considering Lynette couldn't take her, Aunt May took Willow in), every year since her parents died, and the only time she ever wrote back was to ask for a dress her mother made for the Yule Ball the previous year. She also left Paul with no explanation whatsoever. She also caused her foster families a lot of trouble- she was so stressed at primary school, and that caused many incidents. Because of these incidents those parents' became afraid for the other children in their possession, and, therefore, they left her. She had caused so many horrible things. It was no wonder they left her- how could they not want to?

She didn't want to answer his question. It was too personal, so she was again attempted to be of Andrew's grasp.

"Just let me go!" she demanded

"Will you just tell me?" he demanded back.

Deep down; she wanted to tell Andrew everything. Not only she did she wanted to get it off her chest, but she was starting to trust him. He was kind and caring. He was patient (sometimes at least) and he acknowledged her feelings. It also calmed her to be around him. But, the more she thought about it, the more she became afraid.

"No! I can't tell you!"

Andrew had discovered that him asking her to tell him why she was like this was making her more and more distressed. He couldn't do anything for her, he wasn't in the mood to cheer her up, and he couldn't let her go because of her suicide record. So, one of his hands released Lynette's arm so it could retrieve his wand from his trousers' pocket. When it did, he pointed it at Lynette, apologized for what he was about to do and whispered, "Stupefy."

The next thing Lynette remembered was waking up on a soft bed and under a heavy duvet. She took a moment to enjoy the comfort she felt, but the moment wasn't a long one because she realized that the bed she was in wasn't her bed.

She quickly moved her body so that she was in a sitting position; a sigh of relief escaped her lips when she discovered she was in the Hospital Wing. She instantly calmed and lied back down on the comfortable bed, but she didn't have time to enjoy it because as she lay down and turned her head to her right, she noticed someone she would rather not see at the moment. To make him go away, her demeanour changed.

She quickly sat up to a sitting position and asked in stern tone that was much unlike her own, "What are _you_ doing here?"

Andrew stared at her. He was sitting on an unoccupied bed with his elbow resting on his knee and his head resting in his hand.

"I'm here because someone needed to be carried to the Hospital Wing after she got hit by a stunning curse sent by yours truly" he answered, his hand abandoning his head to go over his heart.

A smile tugged her lips before she moved her gaze for him to the duvet that covered her legs. She thought for a while before quietly saying, "Thank you."

Like during lessons, Andrew gaze burned inside of her. She wondered where Madam Pomfrey was, if she would show up so Lynette could be discharged.

She wished for silence until she did come, but Andrew didn't like silence so he decided to start conversation with her.

Knowing it was a bad idea to ask her what was wrong, he decided to ask her something that he was hoping to do over the weekend.

"Are you able to go to Hogsmeade?" he asked her suddenly.

She was allowed to go to the village. Her adopted family usually ignored her when she was home (that`s why she spent the holidays at Hogwarts; not only was it discouraging to her that her family ignored her, but they also made her feel like she was a burden to them). She was quite surprised that they signed the permission slip to go to Hogsmeade, but she didn`t question them.

"My permission slip was signed in Third year, but I've never went before," she answered.

He made no comment on what she just said.

"What do you think of Umbitch?"

She was taken aback by the swear word, but realized that he was talking about their new unpleasant Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"I'm not fond of her" she answered, still not looking at him.

"Do you believe that Voldemort's back?"

Lynette has heard a lot about him during her time at Hogwarts, but she doesn't know why he's so feared. But, if Dumbledore says he's back, she believes he's back.

"If Professor Dumbledore says he's back, than I believe he's back" she answered.

"What do you think about the Ministry of Magic?" he asked

She wasn't too familiar with them; she didn't read the _Daily Prophet_ so she wasn't up to date with the Wizarding world's happenings.

"I don't really know a lot about them, but from what I've heard, they aren't the most likable people." She answered.

"No, they're not" he agreed. "What do think of someone who is much better than me, teaching you Defence magic?" he asked.

This questioned caused Lynette to look at him with both a hurt and shocked expression. Was tutoring her too much for him to handle? Was the enjoyment she felt during their tutor sessions meaningless? Did he lie to her? She didn't know what to say, so she remained silent.

Andrew saw this and explained, "One of my roommates is starting a Defence club because we need to defend ourselves from Voldemort and Umbitch is too evil to teach it to us. He's way better at Defence than I am- he's actually has experience other than duels with his mates."

She was still uncertain. She acknowledged the fact that Andrew was a complete stranger when they first started the tutor sessions, but he was so persistent on getting her to help him that she could not refuse. Also, Andrew's superior was starting a club which meant social interaction, which Lynette wasn't fond of.

Andrew again saw her reluctance in her facial expression. "Don't worry-this bloke has a good heart. I'll be joining the club and they're just meeting in Hogsmeade next weekend," he explained.

This brought Lynette's nerves down a little, but not very much, so she remained silent.

"I'll be there" he repeated.

She knew that just a few hours ago she was convinced he was going to leave her, but she wasn't exactly in the mood to argue, so these three words made her agree.


End file.
